Worlds Apart
by Ria Lee
Summary: ONESHOT. They knew they were not supposed to be together, but still, they tried. However, fate played with them using its harsh humor. And it was too late when everyone started to understand everything.


Disclaimer/Note: An angsty oneshot. Yes, people, angst. If you're looking for fluffy romance stories, please refer to my two stories, **Free Hugs** and **Of Math and Love**. Don't say I didn't warn you. Also, I don't own, in any way, Gakuen Alice and the song Worlds Apart; Tachibana-sama and The Veronicas are the rightful owners, respectively.

It is best if you listen to the song while reading this, especially the part where the lyrics actually showed up. :) Also, expect OOC splattered all over the place.

**Worlds Apart**

_written by_Ria Lee

"_**And now there's nothing I can do to bring you back to me,"**_

_I feel so...I don't know. It's a stupid mixture of sadness and regret, those two dreaded emotions are swirling inside my frail heart, chasing each other and sometimes even fading in and out of my mind. No one even bothered to console me or something about this. Will they ever understand when I tell them that I'm not being stupid about this problem? They always think of me as that dumb airhead Sakura, they don't even know, at least Hotaru's still there. At least __**they're**__still there. I badly need someone who can understand me in a boy's point of view. I mean, it's okay with Hotaru fussing all over me and this problem but I can sense her discomfort when I talk about__**it.**____Aside from her and the gang, no one even bothered to listen to me. Those idiotic minions of the 'it' girls almost punched me for approaching Sumire, good thing she stood up for me. This is just stupid. NO ONE CARES. NO ONE LISTENS._

_I'M TIRED._

_I never even thought of giving up, but now, I just did._

_If those stupid nincompoops read this, then I won't even care. I'm too fed up by all those people silently judging me, not knowing anything. Just being a damn stupid nosy nincompoops. If they hate me for this, I won't even bother explaining. I'm too fed up. It's as if someone just punched me nonstop, then left me._

_I'M DANGEROUSLY TIRED. I don't even know why, but I think I'll never be the same once I finish this entry._

_NEVER WILL I EVER BE._

Mikan closed her personalized doodle-turned-diary notebook and collapsed into her queen-sized bed, silently heaving her breath as she reread every single happy entry she wrote. She just noticed, only one entry spoke primarily of quitting, giving up.

Mikan Sakura was not known for giving up.

She never was.

What no one will ever know, either.

She's giving up, on **him**.

That black cat, Natsume Hyuuga.

But why does her heart feel heavier and weaker than usual?

-(*.*)-

"What the _hell_ just happened to my best friend?" Hotaru Imai was getting tired, not knowing anything regarding her friend's problem. Mikan inwardly flinched as she tried not to smile at the raven's unusual outburst. _Did she just refer to me as 'best friend' in front of the whole class?_She asked herself, cold eyes dancing in amusement. Hotaru eyed her warily, her natural facade slowly slipping out of her face.

"She just happened to sleep inside me," Mikan retorted sarcastically, which earned her a muffled gasp from the class. No one thought of Mikan Sakura, the airhead, actually managing to give out a wise, sarcastic reply to the Ice Queen. Actually, no one ever thought until she did.

"If this problem of yours is about Hyuuga, then I suggest you should stop this useless charade," Hotaru whispered before dragging Mikan with her inside her laboratory.

"I don't actually understand, Hotaru. Do I really have to change so you people could understand and believe that I'm not exaggerating this?" the auburn asked the raven as she sat across her.

"Mikan, I'll be honest with you. I..." Hotaru paused to take a deep breath.

"I actually know where Hyuuga is,"

"W-What?" Mikan choked on her own saliva as she registered further.

"And there's no way I'll ever repeat myself," the raven said coldly.

"How did you manage to know his whereabouts, everyone—even the teachers—are actually thinking that he's inside the wings of Reo Mouri," she spluttered.

"I know, everyone does, but for the record, NO," Hotaru muttered under her breath as she fished out some photos inside her messenger bag—Mikan tried to peek and all she saw were photos of Ruka—and got a plastic bag which was full of Natsume's photos. It was labeled—**Candid and Stolen**.

"Candid and stolen? Why?" Mikan asked.

"And I thought you're actually morphing to a normal human being, but no, I just had to explain this," and with that, Hotaru sighed, as if she'd been holding her breath for so long, and opened the plastic bag.

As soon as Mikan saw this, her eyes welled up with fresh tears.

There he was, the love of her life, Natsume Hyuuga, hand in hand with her mortal enemy, Luna Koizumi.

Mikan felt like her heart was being torn apart in violent and harsh pieces. "But...why?" she managed to croak out.

Hotaru scooted to her direction, taking the pictures that was crumpled from Mikan's grasp and held her hand, squeezing it tightly.

"I have no idea, but what I know is that everything happens for a reason," she assured the weeping brunette, holding her, not wanting to let go.

-(*.*)-

September 20XX

_Persona sensed a presence with him in the woods. He flicked his fingers and a leaf turned to ash._

"_Natsume," he acknowledged the presence and a pissed off gorgeous raven got out of the shadows._

"_What do you want, Persona?" Natsume spat bitterly at the masked man as the aforementioned chuckled darkly, getting nearer Natsume as he adjusted his mask._

"_My, my. Someone just had a bad day," and he chuckled as Natsume cringed at the sound of it._

"_Just get on with it," Natsume scowled at him._

"_You are going to have six-month training in London, with Koizumi-san," Persona said as Natsume's bloodred eyes widened, the reflection showing Luna standing beside Persona and smiling innocently._

"_While on training, I strictly prohibit you from contacting your friends—if you even have one—inside the__academy using these mobile phones. You can only call me, and your fellow colleagues during the training," he fished out two slim phones inside his pocket and tossed to them. Natsume's eyes widened at this._

"_I have my own phone," Natsume scowled more. Persona glared daggers while Luna glanced seductively._

"_Kuro neko, you are becoming a bit dumb. You do realize that I have your phone with me, also yours, Koizumi-san,"_

"_WHAT?"_

Natsume was shaken from his unusual reverie when his _partner_, Luna Koizumi nudged harshly at him and pointed to his slim iPhone that was so much identical to hers. It was ringing endlessly and the caller was unregistered.

Doesn't matter though, he knew that number very well.

"If you don't want to pick it up, then I'll-" but she was cut off when Natsume glowered at her and snatched the phone that she was tightly grasping.

"If you'll excuse me," Natsume said through gritted teeth as he tried not to strangle the ostrich-necked Koizumi and stood up as he placed the phone near his ear.

"How did you know my number, baka?" he snarled at the phone; he never meant to be so harsh, but it was needed or else she'll be in danger. He just couldn't help it, he missed her so much...okay, make that love.

Mikan Sakura, that is.

"_...N-Natsume?"_her quivering voice that was obviously close to sniffing was making him miss her more. He needed to protect her, he _must_. He won't forgive himself if something happens to **his** Polka Dots.

"Do you really want to die? I told you not to interfere with my business. Did Imai track the number?" he snarled viciously through clenched teeth, being extra careful so Luna won't be curious.

"_N-Natsume, I missed you so much. This life is nothing without you in it. Natsume, please, come back. I'm begging you..."_and that was it. As Mikan started to sniff on the other line, Natsume ended the call and went back to Luna, glaring along the way.

"Where's Persona?"

-(*.*)-

"Natsume..." whispered Mikan and dropped her phone in shock. Hotaru swiftly caught it and eyed her best friend with a look of rage—how could that stupid black cat ruin Mikan's life? This is just going on way too far.

"What did he say?" she demanded emotionlessly as Mikan eyed her with a look of pure blankness.

"He hates me Hotaru! He told me not to interfere with his business," Mikan wept so much that Hotaru was afraid she'll be dehydrated soon.

"He has his own reasons Mikan. Whether he might not say it or not, he has it deep inside the recesses of his heart. We all know he thinks as complicated as his moodswings," Hotaru tried to lighten up the situation, which actually paid off with a great deal. Mikan smiled a genuine one that made Hotaru lift the corners of her stiff lips involuntarily.

She was smiling.

At least Mikan wasn't making such a big fuss about it. She was way too engrossed about the problem with Natsume.

"I wish I just accepted his hand. Don't you think so, Hotaru?" the brunette inquired warily.

"I guess s—WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?" Hotaru spilled her tea all over the place, but she apparently didn't care. Now, why was Mikan blurting out weird stuff?

"He asked me out last September, two months ago," she bluntly replied, and Hotaru just had to drop a sweat at that.

"He did?"

"Well, yeah...but-" and she was cut off.

"But...?"

"He said that was supposed to be a farewell thing," Mikan shrugged and Hotaru analyzed the reply.

"He knew this was coming," she muttered.

"What was coming?"

"Idiot..."

"No, really. What do you mean?"

"Mikan, did he say anything else aside from the supposed-to-be date?"

"Let me remember—oh wait, he did mutter about Reo and Persona connivance stuff—" then the auburn was being dragged outside.

"Where are you taking me Hotaru?" Mikan screeched.

"Now, please just shut up Mikan. This is something really serious," Hotaru hushed her.

And Mikan did.

-(*.*)-

"What do you want, Imai?" Jinno-sensei sneered at them as he hid his surprised look.

"Sensei, I'm here to tell you something,"

"And what is it, Imai? Please do consider that you are slowly slipping out of your character," he commented as his frog punctuated it with a croak. Mikan cringed at that.

"Persona illegally shipped Natsume out of the country two months ago," Hotaru said monotonously.

"Persona accompanied Hyuuga and Koizumi for a training in London, that wasn't illegal, since they're both part of the Dangerous Ability class," Jinno-sensei shrugged for a moment as his frog croaked robotically, again, punctuating his sentence.

"Sensei! Persona had been a passive accomplice of the AAO all this time!" Hotaru yelled, successfully turning all the attention of the staff to her. Then Jinno-sensei spoke.

"Narumi-sensei, tell the faculty that we'll be having a meeting. And as for you two..." he gestured to them, "We'll let you know,"

Then, they closed the door to the faculty room and sighed. Mikan faced Hotaru, an unreadable expression painted across her face.

"You don't actually mean that, do you? You just did that to cause commotion so we'll be able to contact Natsume without Persona-sensei hovering over him, right?"

"No," was all Hotaru could manage.

"Then—"

"You'll find out soon,"

-(*.*)-

"Natsume!" Luna shouted at him as he stormed away from the dormitories. The raven lad stopped and glared at her before running away.

"Damn!" she cursed loudly and dialed Persona's number.

"_Koizumi..."_he acknowledged coldly.

"Persona, Hyuuga looked for you. He might actually blow our cover," her voice slowly reverting to a cold one.

"_As expected from him...but, this is way too early. He doesn't have enough informations,"_Persona concluded.

"Actually, I think someone did a meticulous job in tracking his personal number and disseminating the information. _Someone close to him inside the academy_..." she muttered darkly.

Persona was perplexed. How could a troublemaker like _her_ do a thing such as tracking those all-too confidential stuff? "_Impossible. How can Mikan Sakura do that? She is a stupid troublemaker,_"

"MIKAN SAKURA?" Luna almost fell out of the plushy chair she was sitting on for the last minute.

Little did they know that certain Hyuuga they were talking about was sinfully eavesdropping on them.

As they were talking a little more, getting a bit more malicious every since time, Natsume couldn't take it so he decided to show himself.

That made Persona drop his phone, Luna's muffled voice echoing throughout the place.

"Natsume," despite the shock, he was able to give off an aura of authority and coldness.

"Persona, I challenge you into a duel," Natsume's bravery shot up like fireworks. Persona's eyes widened and smirk manically.

"And why should I waste my Alice on someone as weak as you?" the wielder of the Mark of Death taunted the already pissed off raven.

"Simply because I am Natsume Hyuuga," Natsume muttered through clenched teeth.

"Don't ever regret the time I asked you why, Natsume," Persona muttered and flicked his fingers and the boxes inside the old warehouse they're in immediately turned to ashes. Then he turned back to Natsume.

"Tell me why," was all he asked.

"I want to go back. I know your devious schemes Persona. You and Reo..."

"And do you have any more choices other than dying for that little kitten?" Persona's facade went from blank to one in rage.

"Just get on with it, Serio," he darkly muttered.

Persona waited for Natsume to run around and give off different sizes of fireballs, but the familiar barrier startled him. He looked at Natsume, and was surprised to see him have the exact reaction.

A nullification alice was activated; and there's only one living person they knew who wielded the aforementioned alice.

Mikan Sakura.

_I'm gonna hold you for the last time  
I'm gonna cry but afraid not to let it show  
This is the hardest way to say goodbye  
'Cause as you walk away I'm feeling so alone  
I don't understand  
You had to leave and I'm not part of your plan  
We both agreed but now I regret  
There are so many things I should have said_

"What are you doing here?" Natsume yelled at her. Mikan looked unabashed by this and continued to nullify all the alices present. Persona glared cold daggers at her.

"I can't wait for you. I can't bear to just sit there, doing nothing, when actually you were being illegally shipped by this teacher to some place to train for the benefit of the AAO and Z arc," she spat out angrily. Persona's eyes widened at this.

"How far were you able to track all of these, little girl?" the masked man inquired coolly, hoping to hide the tension in his voice.

"So far, I think we covered all of it," an emotionless voice made his eyes widen even more. How can a certain genius like Hotaru Imai help a miserable troublemaker such as the kitten that Natsume was so fond of?

_But now I've let you go  
I'm holding back the tears  
I'm here alone  
Forgetting all the years  
And now there's nothing I can do to bring you back to me  
Oh  
So we live our different lives  
It's so hard and there's no  
more you and I  
but we're worlds apart_

"You will regret everything you've done, little kitten. You too, Imai Hotaru," Persona gritted his teeth in anger and profusely tried to break the nullification barrier that kept him from doing those rash actions such as flicking his sinful finger and successfully killing the three of them, to no avail.

That was when the AAO came along, with their leader, Mouri Reo heading the group, eyes twinkling with amazement and interest.

"I have a feeling this is a deja vu, no?" he snickered along with his minions and adjusted his controlling device, which is his earring.

"Mikan Sakura," he stated the name loud and clear, as Mikan struggled to keep the barrier in check. Reo is trying to find a hole in her alice, and she was not going to tell him where.

Never will she do that.

_Sometimes it's hard to get to sleep at night  
Sometimes I think about the way it could've been  
I see you everytime I close my eyes  
I try to shut you out  
Instead I let you in  
I can't pretend  
I wanted it to end  
For you and me_

"Mouri Reo," a voice called him, exactly his own, copying everything, even his own alice.

In short, it backfired.

"Imai!" Reo managed to yell in spite of the pain. Even his bodyguards yelped and fell on the ground head first.

There she was, Imai Hotaru, in all her monotonous glory, holding out a voice and alice recorder out for them to see. Persona twitched, not knowing what to do next.

Natsume looked at Mikan and their eyes met.

Crimson meets auburn in an unexpected clash that was creating an inaudible song as old as time. They were both engrossed in each other that they both had their guards down, creating a widening hole that was absolutely vulnerable.

"JUST GIVE UP!" Mouri Reo used all his alice as he threw his earring away, successfully tearing off the nullification barrier that was set up, causing Mikan to widen her eyes and cough out blood in the process. Her alice, like Natsume's was the fourth kind.

The dangerous kind.

_But now I've let you go  
I'm holding back the tears  
I'm here alone  
Forgetting all the years  
And now there's nothing I can do to bring you back to me  
Oh  
So we live our different lives  
It's so hard and there's no  
more you and I  
And I'm missing you tonight  
But we're worlds apart_

"Mikan!" Natsume and Hotaru shouted at the same time, him catching the auburn as the raven beauty cautiously watched all the enemies slowly gaining strength. She pushed the red button from who-knows-where and smoke came out of every hole that was present inside the edifice, successfully blocking their view from the injured brunette.

"Mikan, are you alright?" she rushed to her aid and held her hand tight.

"Imai, you are slipping out of your character," Natsume pointed out.

"I do not need anyone to point it out because being in character right now will be useless," she snapped at the stunned raven and wiped the blood off the corner of Mikan's mouth.

"I'm alright, Hotaru. Just seeing you two still bickering over something makes me smile," she added, eyes becoming watery.

Hotaru stood up and saw that everyone was watching them with distaste. She pushed the button again and was surprised when the smoke, instead of spurting out, suddenly dissipated and disappeared with a puff. She inwardly cursed, knowing that Shido, the loyal guard of Reo, is obviously behind this.

"D-Don't worry Hotaru, maybe I can still endure a bit of it. I'll try to activate my—" Mikan was cut off when a haughty and arrogant voice broke her rugged ones.

_What I'd give for one more day  
Just to say the things I need to say  
If only  
Time was not erased_

"What do we have here? A 'welcome back' party? Why didn't you tell me soon enough?" Luna Koizumi, in all her seductively gorgeous glory, sauntered towards the three with an echo of Reo's bodyguards snickering at her remark tearing off the silence.

"Luna..." Hotaru muttered darkly, turning and pointing her baka gun to the blonde.

"What? After all the stuff I've gone through just to get in here, you point that—that childish invention to me? Oh for Pete's sake, grow up, woman!" she menacingly said and that made Mikan stand up and fight for the best friend that fought for her many times before.

"I don't like the tone of you voice, Koizumi," she snarled in distaste as everyone averted their eyes on her. Hotaru and Natsume tried to stop her, but it was useless.

For when Mikan Sakura fights, there's no turning back.

_As you walked away  
I knew I couldn't explain to you  
And I can't pretend  
I wanted this to end  
For you and me_

"Oh really, Sakura. Stop acting all noble with that head of yours," Luna taunted her, eyes boring holes into her soul.

"Never underestimate Hotaru's inventions, it may look all bulky, but once it hits you, you're going DOWN!" Mikan yelled, eyes turning cold as stone. Luna and everyone else were taken aback, but who cares?

Only the two ravens do.

"What about my gun? At least, it's sleek and it fires well, mind you. Once it hits you, you'll not only going down somewhere, you're going down to hell, Sakura!" and with that Luna fished out a sleek silver gun inside her pocket, with only two bullets inside. Their eyes widened at the sight of it, for it was **the** gun.

The gun with the poisonous bullet.

She aimed it directly at Mikan.

"If I do, then I'll meet you there," Mikan stared at the gun, her eyes unwavering. She obviously didn't know what's inside the gun.

It doesn't matter for her, though. As long as she's protecting Hotaru, she'll be fine.

_But now I've let you go  
I'm holding back the tears  
I'm here alone  
Forgetting all the years  
And now there's nothing I can do to bring you back to me  
Oh_

"We'll see how you react to this," and with one swift motion, everything happened all at once.

Luna aimed the gun for Hotaru instead, pulling the trigger and firing it within seconds.

But instead of Hotaru, who seemed to be stunned, Mikan ran swiftly to her aid and blocked the gun for her.

It hit her directly to the left of her chest, right where her heart was located.

Her heart.

Her heart...

_Her heart..._

_So we live our different lives  
It's so hard and there's no  
more you and I_

Luna shrieked, dropping the gun and letting it blow to her feet.

She too got poisoned by her own deed.

While Luna writhed on the floor and waited for about 10 minutes before she die, Hotaru snapped out of her senses and rushed to Mikan who was trying to regain her ragged breath. She was alive, but it'll never be long.

She got poisoned by the bullet; saving Hotaru.

She muttered out some incoherent words under her breath and, Natsume, who seemed stunned as well, knelt beside her, his own eyes getting more watery.

"Why did you do that, Mikan?" Hotaru wept silently and looked at her with those glassy lavender eyes.

"Because I love you so much, Hotaru," Mikan croaked out, every word leaving her breathless. Natsume stayed silent, until Mikan stroked his cheek gently. Her sudden action made him blush boldly.

"Natsume, even though we're apparently worlds apart, I still love you. This might be too late, but you'll be the rightful owner of this battered heart even though it will surely stop beating," Mikan sighed and grimaced as Natsume hugged her gently, never wanting to let go.

"Please tell everyone that I forgive them, and that I'll miss them...I love you Hotaru, Natsume...y-you can't even imagine the extent of it," and Mikan reached out to kiss him gently before she breathed out her last in his lips.

Natsume shouted incoherently and stood up to fight with everyone of them, not caring whether he die or not. He'll use up all his energy to bring them all down.

Down...

_And I'm missing you tonight_

Persona touched Natsume's shoulders and the aforementioned writhed in pain.

He too was poisoned.

He managed to crawl his way to Mikan when Reo blocked his way.

"I will never even let you die beside her," he snarled through clenched teeth and waited for Natsume to die.

-(*.*)-

_But we're worlds apart_

_Two years later..._

Everyone commemorated the death of Natsume Hyuuga and Mikan Sakura-Hyuuga—the two most known students of Alice Academy's history—inside the Academy's gymnasium. Just last year, they were able to tie the knot between the two star-crossed lovers and gave them the peace that they always wanted when they were still alive.

Hotaru Imai, the only survivor during the whole thing, had to roll her eyes while remembering such memory.

The peace they gave was extremely useless.

Who needs them now?

They could've done this earlier.

It was now too late for it.

She prayed for them and, carrying little Miyuki while holding on to Ruka's hand, they went away quietly, each of them fervently praying for the two to rest in absolute peace.

_But we're worlds apart_

**Author's Note:**

Phew! How was it? I didn't mean to get it all angsty or something, I just typed away and this was the outcome. For clarifications, please send me a review or a PM, I know this was a complicated story and shouldn't be made as a oneshot in the first place. Or if you want me to make a chaptered story out of this, send me a review or PM too. I'll be glad to answer those requests and queries. And~ please, if you notice some stupid grammatical errors or something, just drop by and don't be afraid to point them out.

Constructive criticism, flame, suggestion, grammar correction, or just pure loving will be much appreciated.


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